steel had been poured into the three large ladles, the plugs were removed, and it ran into the mould, the weight when cast being about 10 tons. In its finished state the weight will be about 81⁄2 tons. It is, without doubt, by far the largest crucible cast steel casting of its kind that has ever been produced. Messrs. Jessop & Sons anticipate that this will be the beginning of an important trade with Lancashire | millowners, as they discover how much more durable steel wheels are than the cast iron wheels at present in general use. The firm have previously cast wheels 13 feet and 14 feet in diameter, but to 28 feet was a great leap. Now, however, they are prepared to undertake castings up to 34 feet, having gone to very great expense in laying themselves out for this class of work. The operation of casting occupied eight and a-half minutes. ESSEMER STEEL IN THE UNITED STATES. — BESEMEROSTE FLOUNCHion of Bessemer steel referred to a former paper of his in the "Proceedings" of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. X., p. 712, in which he had shown that when amorphous carbon in an impalpable pow der is kept in contact with porcelain at a temperature considerable above redness, but not sufficient for the latter to become fused, the carbon will, if left for a number of hours, diffuse into the porcelain and ultimately permeate it throughout. He considers the con version of bar iron into steel by the cementation process as analogous to this-that is to say, the result of diffusion of carbon in an impalpable powder into the bars of iron whilst they are in an expanded and softened state. Silicon also appears to be present in the amorphous condition, and to diffuse through iron in a similar manner. RAILWAY NOTES. during last year, at the eleven works in the M ASSACHUSETTS RAILROADS.-From the Re United States, during the year 1880, indicates port of the Railroad Commissioners we an unusual amount of activity. The amount learn that the aggregate length of the railroads of steel manufactured in 1880 was 1,203,173 belonging to corporations making returns to tons (2000 lbs.) showing an increase of 30 per the Board is 2667.35 miles, of which 651.48 cent. as compared with 1879; of 64 per cent. compared with 1878, and 115 per cent. compared with 1877. The annexed table shows the annual production of Bessemer steel in the United States since 1872: Year. Tons. Year. Tons. Year. 1872 120,108 1875 375,517 1878 1873 170,652 1876 525,996 1879 1874 191,933 1877 560,587 1880 miles are provided with double track. The total length of track, counting sidings and branches, is 4257.78 miles. The increase during the year being 107.79 miles. The average cost of standard gauge roads is returned at $57,057.80 per mile, and the cost Tons. of equipment averages $6613,90 per mile, making total cost per mile an average of $63,671.70; 732,226 but this cost varies from $24,353 25 to 928,972 $92,068.30. The average cost of the equipped 1,203,173 narrow gauge roads is $31,293.30. During the year, the eleven companies produced a total of 917,592 tons (2000 lbs.) of steel rails, and the development of this manufacture will be seen from the following table, which corresponds to the one above: Year. Tons. Year. Tons. Year. Tons. The gross income for the year, of the sixtyfour corporations, was $35,140,374.77, and the net income $11,191,815.53, a gain of 10 per cent. over last year. The average earning per mile of road was $11,377.90. For the eight roads terminating in Boston the earning per mile averaged $12,079.70. 1872 94,070 1875 290,863 1878 550,398 length of the Prussian railway system URING the early part of last year the total 1873 129,015 1876 412,461 1879 683,964 1874 144,944 1877 432,169 1880 | 917,592 was 6197 kilometers, including 798 which had been added in the course of the year. By the end of the year the length had been increased Startling as this growth of production is, it to 6299 kilometers. The cost of the whole will undoubtedly be surpassed by the output of the present year, for not only does the de- £74,665,270-or at the rate of 244,312 marks per system had been 1,493,305,418 marksmand continue in the United States, but several of the more important works materially 163,877,969 marks as against 155,881,124 in the kilometer. The receipts for the year were enlarged their capacities last year; the Vulcan Steel Works at St. Louis got into working order previous year. There was, however, a diminuonly in March last, so that it contributed to marks to 26,580, or at the rate of 9 per cent.; tion of receipts per kilometer from 29,582 the total only during nine months; the Pitts- though, on the other hand, the expenditure also burgh Bessemer Steel Company, with a capaci- decreased from 18,042 to 16,326 marks per kiloty of 60,000 tons of ingots a year, are just on meter, or 91% per cent. The general result the point of commencing work; and the Colo-shows an excess of receipts over expenditure rado Coal and Iron Company will be in opera- of 61,826,748 marks, against 57,990,555 in the towards the autumn. year before. Ta meeting of the Chemical Society on A the sin ult., a paper was read on a IN N accordance with the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, the Railway Commission "New Theory of the Conversion of Bar Iron appointed to deal with the new lines of the into Steel by the Cementation Process." by Mr. southeast of Europe will assemble in Vienna R. Sydney Marsden, D. Sc. The author first for the despatch of business in the second half of February. The Bosnia Valley Railway Bill has passed the Upper Chamber, Austria. This measure is very important, as it will bring Austria into direct communication with the port of Salonica Herr von Schmerling remarked that he looked upon the Austrian occupation of Bosnia not as a temporary but as a permanent thing. This railway, he thought, would help to attach the natives of the province to Austrian rule by identifying their interests with those of the empire. R new reseaux, the railways belonging to the State and those of private companies as follows: The old reseau, 6244 miles in length, earned £22,347,000, or more than 70 per cent. of the total. The new reseau of 6253 miles earned £6,798,000. The State railways, 1179 miles long, earned £537,600, and the various private lines, 517 miles in length, have earned the remainder of the total. These results show a large increase over the corresponding period of 1879; thus the old reseau shows an increase of £2,486,000; the new reseau a rise of AILWAYS AND CANALS IN CANADA.-The £791,000, and the State Railways a rise of report of the Minister of Railways nearly £50,000. The line from Rhone and and Canals of Canada for the year ending Mont Cenis Railway classified in the Paris, June 30, 1880, has been presented to the Do Lyons, and Mediterranean system, earned minion Parliament. It is stated that on the £167,360 during the first nine months of 1880, section of the Canadian Pacific Railway from or nearly £18,000 more than in the similar Thunder Bay to Rat Portage, 294 miles, the period of 1879; the former figure represents an railways for 171 miles are laid, and from Kie-earning of over £2300 per mile of line. watin (Rat Portage) to Selkirk on the Red River, 112 miles, the railways are down the whole way. For a distance of 16 miles beyond Red River, up to Victoria junction, Selkirk, no line has been constructed, but communication is open to Winnipeg by means of the Pembina branch on the east side of the river, and a temporary bridge over the river connects the line with the Winnipeg branch. Westwards the railways are laid to within a few miles of the western boundary of Manitoba, and the line is in operation to Portage-la Prarie, 70 miles west of Winnipeg. The Canadian Pacific Railway therefore has at the present time 232 miles in work as follows: Emerson to Winnipeg, 63 miles; St. Boniface to Selkirk, 23 miles: Selkirk to Cross Lake (east), 76 miles; Selkirk to Portage-la-Prarie, 70 miles. In British Columbia 127 miles are under contract, and are being steadily prosecuted. The expenditure in connection with the Pacific Railway during the last fiscal year was $4,444,572. The enlargement of the canal system is being rapidly proceeded with, and during last year the expenditure on that account was $2,125,455. The new canals when complete will have a uniform system of locks, 270 feet long by 45 feet wide, with a depth of 14 feet, and will enable steamers of 1500 tons to pass from Lake Superior to Montreal and the sea. The total length of inland navigation from Lake Superior to the Straits of Belle Isle is 2384 miles, and the completion of the new work cannot fail, it is considered, to have an important effect upon the transport of grain from the Western States of America and Western Canada to the United Kingdom. RENCH RAILWAYS.-The Director-General FRENC Railways in France has recently pub ORDNANCE AND NAVAL. N HYDRAULIC SHIP.-Another hydraulic A ship has lately been launched in Germany, but as usual with vessels of the same description, she has failed to attain the speed expected. As the readers of Iron are aware, in these hydraulic ships water taken in through the bottom is expelled at both sides in the line of the keel, and the reaction of the fluid issuing at high speed drives the hull ahead if the water is allowed to escape aft, or astern if it escapes towards the bow. The notion is no new one, for as far back as 1661 an inventor received a patent for propelling vessels by expelling water from their sterns. In 1730 another patent was secured for doing nearly the same thing, and since that time nearly fifty persons have taken out patents for hydraulic vessels. About ten years ago a vessel called the "Waterwitch," of 1279 tons displacement, was built for our navy, to test a proposed system of hydraulic propulsion, but, though the ship is only of light draught, has good lines, and is fitted with engines of 775 horse power, she has never exceeded, when at sea, a speed of from five to six knots, and has never been trusted out of sight of land. The hydraulic ship lately built in Germany is 110 feet long, 17 feet wide, with a draught of 15% feet of water, and was expected to attain a speed of ten knots an hour, but on her trial trip she could barely accomplish nine. She proved, however, to be extremely handy, running close up to a sailing vessel which crossed her course, and then, stopping her way in a moment, turned immediately to starboard. HE AUSTRIAN IRONCLAD " TEGETHOFF."— lished the results of working the main French lines during the first nine months of 1879 and trial of a new steam fire engine, de1880, which returns show a marked improvement between January and September, 1880. signed for the Imperial Austro-Hungarian warThe total gross receipts during these nine ship Tegethoff took place on Tuesday at months amounted to £30,292,000, or nearly 311⁄2 Messrs. Merryweather and Sons' fire-engine millions more than during the corresponding works at Greenwich. The engine is fitted period of 1879. During the year ending Sep- with a quick-raising steam boiler of the Merrytember last, 591 miles of new lines had been weather and Field improved type. The pump opened for traffic. The gross receipts of is provided with valves having large clear £30,292,000 were divided among the old and openings through which seaweed, shavings, straw, and other foreign matter may pass without fear of injury or stoppage to the machinery. At the trial steam was raised within eight minutes from cold water, and the engine pumped 360 gallons per minute through a 1inch jet to a height of 160 feet. Following this test two, three, and four jets were thrown by the engine simultaneously, and as an experiment, to show its capabilities for pumping powers the machine discharged an immense body of water through two 21⁄2-inch hoses. This last experiment was perhaps the most important to the visitors present, as the primary work of the engine (although a fire engine to all intents and purposes) is to pump out water in case of a mishap, damage by torpedo or shot. Being complete in itself, such an engine by means of suction pipes can draw water from any damaged compartment, and keep it down until the necessary repairs are made. THE NEW. The heavy breech-loading THE NEW FORTY-THREE TON BREECH-LOADgun now in course of its departmental trials in the Royal Gun Factories naturally excites much interest, being the first breech loader in our service larger than the old Armstrong 7-inch guns, which fired shot weighing 110 pounds, with considerable difficulty, and were eventually supplied with shells under 100 pounds in weight. The new gun weighs about 43 tons. Its caliber is 12 inches, and its length of bore about 26 calibers-the whole gun being about 29 feet long. The method of closing the breech is the same as that adopted in the new field breech-loading guns, except that lever and screw power is applied to the closing and locking of the breech. In general appearance, proportions, and character, the gun closely resembles the 9.2-inch breech-loading Woolwich gun depicted in The Engineer of June 25, 1880. The new armor-clad vessels Colos inches to 23 inches-on the service system of velocity of 1930 feet was obtained with 300 sus and Majestic will cach, we believe, carry M four of this description of gun, mounted in two turrets, arranged similarly to those of the Inflexible, which vessel they will closely resemble. They are to be 5 feet longer and 7 feet narrower, and are to be made of steel, with compound armor 16 inches thick. For a full description the reader is referred to King's "War Ships," new edition. Up to the present time the gun in question has not been the subject of any public trial, being, as we have said, in the course of undergoing its early proofs in the hands of Colonel Maitland, the Superintendent of the Gun Factories. In this stage it is impossible to give full detailed information. We think, however, that we can supply what is sufficiently near for all practical purposes. The gun was fired on Thursday, January 6th, with about 280 pounds of prismatic powder, which, with a projectile weighing 703 pounds, gave an initial velocity of about 1830 feet per second. The charge is be ONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW FOR JANU- HE WORKSHOP. No. 3. E. Steiger & Co. THE THROUGH the kindness of Mr. James ForTH rest, Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers, we have received the following published papers of the Institution. "Address of James Abernethy, Esq., F. R. S. E." Machinery for Steel Making," by Benj. Walker, M. I. C. E. "The Monte Penna Wire Ropeway," by William P. Churchward, A. I. C. E. Cribwork in Canada," by Henry Taylor Bovey, M. A. 'Different Modes of Erecting Iron Bridges," by Theophilus Seyrig, M. I. C. E. Translated by Alfred Bache, A. I. C. E. L° OCOMOTIVE ENGINEERING AND THE MEing gradually increased-the pressure in the CHANISM OF RAILWAYS By Zerah Colbore being as yet only about 16 tons on the burn. For sale by D. Van Nostrand. Price $10. square inch. Taking it in its present condi- This is not a new book, nor is it a new edition, however, the gun is a very powerful tion of an old one, but attention is called anew weapon, having about 16,330 foot-tons stored- to this valuable treatise by the announcement up work, or 435 foot-tons per inch circumfer- of a material reduction in the price. ence, which means a penetration of from 22 large quartos, describing and illustrating in Two the fullest manner every department of locomotive structure and use, are now offered for ten dollars. The plates afford working dimensions, and the text fully describes the details. This is a new volume of the well-known Weale series. It is prepared by a well-known author for those readers who desire to become thoroughly acquainted with theories of structures, and the practical application of results in the simplest way, and not as a mathemati CAOUTCHOUC; GUTTA PERCHA ET GOMME cal exercise. Paris: Librarie de Roret. For sale by D. Van Nostrand. Price $1.75. There are two volumes of this little French work, of which the first is devoted to caoutchouc. The methods employed in preparing the raw material, and the machinery for the manufacturing processes are briefly described. The plates are good, although few in number. OUVEAU TRAITE DE CHIMIE INDUSTRI A convenient and compact volume is the result of this plan, containing as much science as a large proportion of working engineers are accustomed to employ. TBy Robert L. Galloway. London: Macmillan & Co. Price $3.50. HE STEAM ENGINE AND ITS INVENTORS. This is a brief history of the use of steam from 1660 to 1820. The object of the author. No ELLE. Wagner et L Gautier. Paris: cessive steps in the development of the cylinas explained in the preface, is 10 exhibit the sucLibrairie F. Savy. For sale by D. Van Nos-der and piston engine, and not to give an actrand. Price $10.50. count of all the machines in which steam has been employed. tions are excellent, although the latter will The book is well printed, and the illustralook familiar to readers of former sketches on this subject, and the number will seem small compared with the abundance afforded in Thurston's history of the steam engine. This extensive work is now in two large octavo volumes illustrated with the best style of woodcuts and in the most profuse manner, there being 487 such illustrations in the work. The first section of the work treats of Metalurgical Processes; the second, of Raw Materials and Products of Industrial Chemistry; the third, of Glass, Pottery, Lime and Plaster; fourth, Vegetable Matters and their Industrial Applications; fifth, of Animal Matter; sixth, Coloring Matters; seventh, Illumination; eighth, Heating, the Materials and Ap-upon subjects relating to the history of engineering progress. paratus. IFE HISTORY OF OUR PLANET. By Wm. LD. Gunning. New York: R. Worthing ton. Price $1.50. This is paleontology in a popular, not to say an unscientific form. Facts are gleaned here and there from the zoology of the past, and presented in the style of the popular scientific lecturer. There is a tendency in all such works to give undue prominence to the astounding facts, and to omit the expression of their logical connection; but it may be urged that by such means the attention of the unlearned is first arrested and directed to the proper sources of information. The book is fairly illustrated, and will, we have no doubt, be gladly received in those sections of the country where the author has been heard on the lecture platform. ASY LESSONS IN SANITARY SCIENCE. By E Joseph Wilson, M. D. Philadelphia: Presley Blakiston. Price $1.00. Land Drainage, Drainage of the Farm House and Village, Drainage of Cities, and Plumbing, are the topics treated in an easy colloquial style by this author. The writer possesses sufficient knowledge, derived from experience, and has produced a valuable, though brief and badly illustrated treatise. The bibliography of the subject seems to be fully given in the foot notes, a fact that will render the work valuable to students or writers mixed together, and the sheets of paper which al. The act of deposit-made at the Federal have to be made waterproof drawn through the mixture, and suspended from suitable lines to dry. The proportions are not given, but 5 per cent of acetic acid and 7 per cent. of a saturated solution of bicromate of potash will answer. TH Bureau at Berne-must be accompanied by a legal attestation as to the place of manufacture; the trade mark in triplicate, with exact description of the article; a block of the trade mark, of a specified size and thickness; and lastly, a sum of 20f. for each separate trade mark. The deposit can be made by a third HE manufacture of bicycles and veloci- party by procuration. The registration must pedes has become one of the staple in-, contain information as to the number of the dustries of the Midlands, and lately the rail- trade mark; the data of deposit and publicaway charges for the carriage of these products tion; the name, profession, and address of the have been considerably increased, in some proprietor; the description of the article and cases up to 100 per cent. The manufacturers of any modifications which might have been of Wolverhampton and Coventry have conse- made since the day of deposit. The descripquently interviewed the managers of the Lon-tion is given in the language of the depositor, don and North-Western, the Great Western, and the Midland Railways, secking a return to the rates that prevailed before 1881. The result has been that with this month the recently advanced rates have been lowered 50 per cent. on bicycles, and something like 75 per cent. on tricycles. The manufacturers in the Wolverhampton district have formed themselves into an association. IURNAL VARIATIONS OF THE BAROMETER. provided it is in one of the three national languages; if otherwise, in French. Renewal is accompanied by the same formalities as deposit. The law on trade marks does not deal with, or affect in any way, the law of patents, which which will form a subject of debate in the renewal of commercial treaties between Switzerland and the neighboring States. Apropos of this, says a contemporary, it may be mentioned that an international conference upon the law of patents has just been sitting in Paris, has taken part. DIURNAL Os computed the baro- in which M. Kern, the Swiss Minister to France, metric coefficients of daily variations from observations made at thirty stations scattered over the globe. The average duration at each station was something over ten years. Under the tropics the effect of latitude is scarcely perceptible, but between the latitudes of 20° and 60° the value of the quadrantal component decreases .001 inch per degree of latitude. The calculations and the discussions which have resulted from them confirm Sir John Herschel's views, in regard to the universality of the phenomenon, and Chase's explanation of the cause. IRCULATION OF AIR IN THE ST. GOTTHARD on the color relations of copper, nickel, OLOR RELATIONS OF METALS.-In a paper cobalt, iron, manganese, and chromium, lately read before the Chemical Society, Mr. T. Bayley records some remarkable relations between solutions of these metals. It appears that iron, cobalt, and copper form a natural color group, for if solutions of their sulphates are mixed together in the proportions of 20 parts of copper, 7 of iron, and 6 of cobalt, the resulting liquid is free from color, but is grey and partially opaque. It follows from this that a mixture of any two of these elements is com CIRCULATION OF AIR IN THee driving care plementary to the third, if the above cour attention to the variations in the air currents between the two openings at Göschenen aud Airolo. He finds two principal causes to be operative in these changes: First, the south ern opening is 30 meters (32.809 yards) higher than the northern, which represents a pressure equivalent to that of a column of air 36 meters (39.371 yards) high at the subterranean temperature; second, the difference of barometric pressures upon the two declivities of the mountain. If the external temperature was always lower than the internal, if the barometric temperature was the same at each side, and if there were no modifications of velocity due to the heating and expansion of the air or to the friction against the walls, the draft would always be southward. Meteorological observations are regularly taken, both at Airolo and Göschenen, to determine the elements which are required in order to know, monthly or annually, the number of days for which a given direction of current or an absolute calm may be expected in the interior of the tunnel. HE new law upon trade marks now in force points procedure, viz.: deposit, registry, and renew tions are maintained. Thus a solution of cobalt (pink) is complementary to a mixture of iron and copper (bluish green); a solution of iron (yellow) to a mixture of copper and cobalt (violet); and a solution of copper (blue) to a mixture of iron and cobalt (red). But, as Mr. Bayley shows, a solution of copper is exactly complementary to the red reflection from copper, and a polished plate of this metal viewed through a solution of copper salt of a certain thickness is silver white. As a further consequence, it follows that a mixture of iron (7 parts) and cobalt (6 parts) is identical in color with a plate of copper. The resemblance is so striking that a silver or platinum vessel covered to the proper depth with such a solution is indistinguishable from copper. There is a curious fact regarding nickel also worthy of attention. This metal forms solutions, which can be exactly simulated by a mixture of iron and copper solutions; but this mixture contains more iron than that which is complementary to cobalt. Nickel solutions are almost complementary to cobalt solutions, but they transmit an excess of yellow atomic weight of very nearly the mean of the atomic weight of |